Q & A with ConVal yearbook editor

ConVal’s 2016 yearbook was selected by Jostens as a National Yearbook Program of Excellence. We caught up with senior Madeline Ciocci, who co-edited the yearbook with Alexandra Williams, and asked her some questions about the experience.

Q: What have you learned from being part of yearbook?

A: How to lead, how to get things done and how to work with others.

Q: Would you recommend other students do yearbook - Why? Why not?

A: I would recommend it to any student that wants to be creative and is ready to work hard. I think that doing yearbook is a much bigger commitment than most people understand, and not everyone is cut out for it. That being said, I think that most people CAN do yearbook, it’s just a question of whether they are willing to do the work.

Q: What are you most proud of with this yearbook?

A: If I were to pick one spread, it would be the Spirit Week spread, the Senior spread, or the Visual Arts spread. The Spirit Week spread totally captures the essence of what Spirit Week is all about. The Senior spread has a really good writeup and a killer photo. And the Visual Arts spread was one that I didn’t expect to love, but when it came down to it, I found that it came out really well, and is now one of my favorites.

But overall, I would say I’m most proud of just running the book in general. Last year, the staff was about twice the size of this year’s, and going into this year, I was the only returning member of yearbook. So needless to say, I wasn’t sure how good the book would be. I was nervous to bear the heavy load of the yearbook and all that comes with it: design, editing, ad sales, yearbook sales, organization, and so much more. Now that the year is almost over, I’m so proud of how the book came out and how much this year’s (fairly young) staff stepped up to the plate.

Q: Do you think you will use any of these skills in your future career?

A: Yes. Without a doubt. Yearbook taught me leadership, time management, organization, execution, communication, and countless other valuable skills. In any career, these skills become useful if not necessary.